For a first exhibition in New York...
Picasso hardly had a reputation for letting himself be manipulated; if anything, he was known for skillfully turning situations around to suit his needs. The history of their relationship ventures far beyond the famous exchange of a white Oldsmobile for a painting: Sam Kootz offered Picasso, who had recently joined the French Communist Party, his first solo exhibition in the United States after the war in the midst of a highly tense political climate. If Kootz's strategy was to show his protégés–the representatives of the new current of American abstract expressionism–alongside the Spanish master in order to give them artistic legitimacy, the dealer's admiration of Picasso ought not to be underestimated. In any case, Kootz managed to sell over a hundred works by Picasso, organized about ten solo exhibitions for the artist in the Kootz Gallery, and maintained an ongoing correspondence with him which, albeit apparently initiated by the dealer, was followed by regular, friendly visits spanning a period of more than twenty years.
The exact date of their first encounter is disputed. In a recent interview, Françoise Gilot, who shared her life with Picasso at the time, claimed that Kootz first visited them with his wife Jane at Golfe-Juan in the summer of 1946 or 1947.[i] Brassaï's detailed journal dates their first meeting to December 28, 1946 at the Grands-Augustins studio in Paris. The latter version seems to be true; apparently Sam Kootz met Picasso alone in Paris before seeing him again the following summer in southern France, when both were there with their respective companions. According to the account by photographer Brassaï in his Conversations with Picasso, Kootz went straight to Brassaï's house from the airport and pressed him to take him to the artist. The photographer, a close friend of Picasso, took Kootz to the studio. Picasso was still asleep and they were met by his secretary, Jaume Sabartés: "Another American? Where the hell did you pick him up? I'm not sure whether we'll be seeing Picasso today. He worked late into the night. He's still asleep." But as soon as he had uttered these words, the artist's footsteps on the stairs announced his arrival. He was beaming. Kootz was in luck."[ii]
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Summary